The growing market related to virtual currencies has led to the creation of several scams structured through offers to purchase non-existent money
The cryptocurrency market is in its heyday. In September 2017 alone, 39 new virtual currency offerings were born and 33 start-ups were registered in this very sector. As is often the case, however, the growing interest of users has caused the number of scam attempts to soar.
In fact, cyber criminals immediately “sniffed out the deal”, setting up cyber frauds whose sole objective is to cheat users and steal from them Bitcoin, Ethereum, LiteCoin and the other cryptocurrencies in their online accounts. Or, alternatively, to cheat all those who would like to earn with Bitcoins by offering them cryptocurrencies below the market price and quotation. As noted by some experts, in fact, the most common scam is the ability to buy Bitcoin cheaply, but it is not the only one: cybercriminals are always ready to take advantage of any slightest distraction.
Bitcoin below cost
As already mentioned, the most common scam in the world of virtual currencies is that of “sky-high discounts”. With Bitcoins now sailing towards 6,000 euros (although, for some, this is a speculative bubble destined to burst sooner than you think), many hackers create portals that would allow you to buy cryptocurrencies at bargain prices. In this way the “lucky” buyers, would immediately realize strong gains, taking advantage of an official valuation much higher. Needless to say, this is a well-conceived computer scam: Bitcoins, in fact, can be compared to a stock market, with a regulated exchange market (the blockchain, in the case of cryptocurrencies) and a well-defined value. Impossible, in short, that there are offers for Bitcoin.
Fake virtual currencies
In addition to false offers there are also false virtual currencies. As was the case with OneCoin. In Mumbai, a network of cyber criminals had generated a fraud by selling non-existent cryptocurrencies around the world. Using cryptography at their leisure, the hackers convinced the victim that they could earn and pay for any item with the coins they sponsored. The criminal network was unmasked and two million dollars worth of revenue was recorded.
Chains
The current trend in cryptocurrency is the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) which translated means Initial Coin Offering. The idea of pre-selling cryptocurrencies developed using a blockchain has now evolved into an efficient fundraising tool for the development of new applications. However, hackers are often behind these systems. Their intent is to make money and not to develop apps. For this reason it’s not difficult to come across fake ICO offers on the Net. Hackers invite the victim to invest and recommend the investment even to their friends and relatives, creating real chain letters like those circulating on social media or WhatsApp.
How to defend yourself from cryptocurrency scams
Anonymity is one of the basics of virtual currencies. But information about a company that makes cryptocurrencies is the best tool to figure out if it’s a scam or not. If we notice that the offer we found comes from a company that has no references and no past history on the Internet let’s think more than twice before completing the purchase. Let’s look for names and surnames of the creators or team behind the virtual currency. Serious cryptocurrencies do not overlook these aspects. Beware then of all ICO offers that promise a guaranteed gain. Nothing on the Net is given away, as well as in everyday life. The question to ask then is: does this currency have its own ethics? Yes, because every cryptocurrency was born with a purpose. Bitcoin for example was created to solve the specific problems of inflation of real currencies. Monero was designed to provide the relative transactional privacy that was missing in Bitcoin. Litecoin on the other hand is the silver equivalent of the gold Bitcoin. Each new cryptocurrency has proven to support its own fundamental value. So we need to be cautious about any virtual currency that doesn’t have clear utility.